Lobster Shorts lifestyle

The Newest Family Member

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Meet Oliver, Ollie, Oligurrr, sometimes Smalliver. He’s three months old as of this photo. We lost our 15 year old German Shepherd/Border Collie December 2021, almost a month shy of her 16th birthday. It was a hard blow and the shittiest Christmas I’ve ever had. I still can’t think of her without tearing up. I didn’t think I’d ever be ready to welcome home another dog. One day I found myself browsing through Petfinder (a website that lists all the animals available in rescue shelters), and I found the perfect dog. A black flat coated retriever named Cammy, and I fell in love. My spouse and I applied immediately. Unfortunately and fortunately, Cammy was adopted to someone else. I was very sad about that, I had really wanted that dog, but he went to a really wonderful home. Apparently, the adopter had another flat coat and the two of them got on wonderfully and it was “a match made in heaven” so how can I be too sad about that.

As I found out after applying for five other dogs, it’s not always easy. Talking to other people that have also tried the adoption route, they also found it discouraging and ended up buying a puppy. That is the case for myself and my husband. I wanted to keep trying for an older dog and my husband really wanted. We wanted two dogs, so while I continued to look at different rescues, my spouse found a puppy we both liked.

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That is how Ollie came to live with us. This photo is from the first week we had him. He’s a Spangold (Golden retriever and Spaniel)that was born on a farm. Neither one of his parent’s had black fur, but all the puppies came out similar to Ollie (black and floofy) He’s cute and I love him. and soooo looking forward to when he stops teething. This little angel can be a little devil and really likes to bite. I don’t know how many of you have had a puppy, but it can be A LOT. They are all teeth and little whirl winds. I’m usually finding myself chasing him to pull something he shouldn’t have out of him mouth. It’s clear our puppy proofing could use a tune up.

We had been hoping to get the older dog first, but that’s not the way it worked out. Niether of us expecting the adoption process to be such a, well process. It’s okay though. Ollie is starting to become a fantastic little member of our family.

I do have big news… We were approved by one of the rescue agencies and a 6 year old golden retriever will be coming home later this month! More on that story later! For all those trying to adopt, don’t get discouraged if you don’t get approved right away, Keep trying. It didn’t happen for us right away either. It has taken months and many rejections. I’ll update you all on the new dog when he comes home

Lobster Shorts Food, lifestyle, vegetarian

Advent Calendar Day!

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It’s that magical time day of the year when many a folk get to open their first advent calendar surprise. Day one, the day you find out if your advent calendar sucks, or will be full of joy. You always seem to know by that first peak. I’ve been enjoying advent calendars most of my adult life. We had them sporadically as kids, but not very often. I so love them. I’ve had tea advent calendars and many many chocolate ones. I haven’t splurged on a wine one yet, but I hope to… I really hope to.

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This is my second cheese advent calendar. The first one I had was last year. It was a commercially made one, but I don’t remember the brand. It was really good and I loved it. This year the local cheese shop was offering the commercial cheese advent calendar, or a homemade from the store version. I jumped on the in store version and I’m so glad I did.

It was packaged so beautifully and has decently large chunks of cheese (which is great since I am sharing with my spouse. We’re splitting each day between the two of us). I love that all the cheese is labeled. What a perfect way to discover new favourites. I’m not sure how many different kinds of cheese there are since I’m only on day one, but I’m hopeful it’s a lot, dare I even hope for a different kind each day??? Either way, I can already tell this is going to be an awesome advent calendar.

Lobster Shorts lifestyle

Death By Scarf

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This is an actual fear of mine. The fear of having my scarf hang out the car door, catch in the wheel and strangle me to death (or pop my head right off). This, or some sort of accident involving a scarf and the car, death or severe mangling being the outcome. So, as soon as I get in the car, I remove it before the car starts, and put it in my lap until I’m ready to leave the car. It’s not even enough to make sure it’s not hanging out the door, I have to have it off completely. Just in case…. Just in case…

My fear is not completely unfounded. This was the tragic end for one unfortunate lady, Isadora Duncan. She was driving her convertible when the end of her scarf got caught in the wheel, killing her instantly. I’ll link the story here. You know, you think these things are so unlikely, and then you Google it and you find out about poor people like, Isadora. Unlikely, but likely, you know? It’s bound to have happened to someone.

Stay safe out there my friends, and check your scarves.

Lobster Shorts Food, lifestyle, vegetarian, weight loss

Back To Pound Town

Disclaimer. I am not a medical professional, nutritionist, or anyone with any business giving diet advice. This is my own personal journey. When it comes to yourself, seek the advice of a medical professional.

This morning for breakfast I had an English muffin with an egg and 1/2 an avocado with a coffee. I love this breakfast, it’s so tasty and satisfying. I want two eggs, but have stuck with one cut in half for each side because I know it’s enough. I want the second egg because I like how tasty it is, but I don’t need it, I just want it.

For lunch I had a can of Campbell’s Moroccan Chickpea Soup and snacked on cherry tomatoes. I made another pit stop to the Snapping Turtle with my spouse again, but this time I told him no cookies, just the latte. I still had a bite of his, because the peanut butter cookies there are magical. Just a bite though.

My spouse surprised me with dinner while I was playing in my craft room. It was wine and a frozen pizza. He cooks them really well. The crust was wonderfully crunchy. It wasn’t the healthiest meal, but it was nice not to have to cook. I had some pickles and a chunk of cheese before dinner. I was hungry.

My hips were still super sore in the morning from jogging a couple days ago, but they were fine enough by the evening to get out the Slim In 6 tape again. I did the Start It Up workout again and it left me sweaty and breathless. I had to modify a small section of the arm part (most of that is from yesterday’s torture in the gym), but I did most of it. I did manage to get through the rest of it.

Here’s my post workout face for your viewing pleasure.

Lobster Shorts Food, lifestyle, vegetarian, weight loss

Day Four – Eight Minutes of Discomfort

Disclaimer. I am not a medical professional, nutritionist, or anyone with any business giving diet advice. This is my own personal journey. When it comes to yourself, seek the advice of a medical professional.

Breakfast today was made by my spouse, an English muffin with a fried egg, and cheese. I snacked on more cherry tomatoes during the morning while I was at work.

This… this was my lunch today. I must admit, it was magical. I do love my cookies and lattes. It wasn’t my intention to get a cookie, the plan was just to get a latte and make lunch when I got home. My spouse was the one to go into the Snapping Turtle on the way home from work (it was only a half day for me today) and he came back with lattes and cookies. I COULD have said no… but I love these cookies, they’re so good. I was still going to make a lunch when I got home, but I was full, so I waited for dinner to eat again.

It appears I am still on a halloumi kick, I had salad with the leftover farro and halloumi from a couple days ago. This time I used a commercially prepared balsamic vinaigrette for the dressing. It was a huge plateful and I didn’t finish it all in one go. The plate was close by (I had dinner on the couch watching a movie) and I ended up finishing the salad by the time the movie ended. I had a glass of wine with it.

My hips (hip muscles) are pretty sore today from yesterdays jog on the treadmill and I didn’t feel like doing anything overly sweaty today. I remembered this arm workout a friend sent me awhile ago. It’s a short arm workout and it’s HARD. Quick and intense, is an accurate description! I had to put my arms down A LOT during this video and eight minutes isn’t that long. It’s easy and simple in that you can do it anywhere, even at work at your desk! I did it with my spouse and we were laugh crying it was so hard. We made it to the end and did as much as we could. I liked this one a lot and plan on doing it often. It’s perfect for when you’re looking for something quick and you don’t want to sweat buckets.

Lobster Shorts lifestyle

Late Evening Workouts and Takeout

Day three of my fitness journey started with this glorious smoothie bowl of deliciousness for breakfast. I do love eating my smoothies over drinking them. It’s so much more satisfying. I love how the toppings have that wonderful crunch.

For the smoothie bowl I threw in some greens, half a squeezed lemon, random fruit in my freezer, a banana, three tablespoons of hemp seeds, and a cup of oat milk. This made breakfast for two, for my spouse and I. Usually he’s the one that makes breakfast and I get to sleep in, but he was working out, so I decided to he the hero and make breakfast this morning. It was impressive! Go me!

Lunch was leftover bibimbap from Sunday. There was a full jar of it, but I forgot to take a snapshot of it until I was halfway through (I get very hungry before lunch time). I snacked on more cherry tomatoes during the day.

I had an eye exam booked after work and because I commute, I got takeout. I decided if any takeout was allowed on this new healthier lifestyle, it would be a pita. And yes, this football sized pita is a small.

It was a veggie/halloumi pita and I ate 99.9% of it with pretty much one bite left. It was delicious. By the time I got home it was 9:00 at night and I scrambled to get a workout in. I am surprisingly not too sore from the ab workout I did yesterday. I feel it, but I thought I would REALLY feel it. My arms are a bit sore and my thighs have almost (almost) recovered from the workout I did on Sunday. I wasn’t quite up to the Slim In 6 workout yet, so I went with a jog on the treadmill.

This was the result. I was happy with what I did. It also felt fantastic, more so than I was expecting. Fun fact, I think I’m allergic to my own sweat. I get hives after sweating a lot. This also happens to me when I get cold, but like in the winter cold. Maybe intense temperatures do that to me. Anyone else out there like that?

It’s an hour past my bedtime. I am sleepy and hitting the hay. Night all.

Lobster Shorts lifestyle

Working Out On A Full Stomach

This was my breakfast today. Not my healthiest. There was leftover waffle batter (I’ll post the recipe here. they were good) from Sunday’s breakfast and we decided to finish it. I had a craving for an egg on a waffle – no I don’t know why. Is that something people do? Egg on a waffle? Not with syrup or anything, just like, a fried egg on a waffle. On the other three sections I added syrup. This is actually me being modest with the syrup. I drown my pancakes and waffles.

I wasn’t able to finish my breakfast completely, which is something that makes me happy. I grew up with “clean your plate” eating habits, and I struggle with stopping, even if I’m full. Every time I don’t finish my plate, I feel it’s a win.

Lunch was a can of Campbell’s Moroccan Chickpea soup. This photo may make this soup seem unappetizing, but it’s flavourful and delicious. Right now I’m into them for work lunches. I usually snack on a couple Lara bars during work, but today I brought cherry tomatoes with me. They worked out pretty well for a work snack. I’ll keep having them until I get sick of them.

My snack for the commute home was a container of melon. This is my way of avoiding takeout for dinner. I work full time and commute. It makes it harder to cook healthy meals.

I cooked faro in the Instant Pot (wayyyy faster than stove top) and made a huge salad and served it with sparkling water with lemon. I was going to have wine, but I didn’t. Not to be healthier, I just went with the water.

The salad was mixed greens, cucumbers, tomato, and green onion. There was a lot more tomatoes and cucumbers than you see in the photo, I ended up adding more greens on top. I topped the salad with the faro and fried halloumi. For dressing I squeezed half a lemon, a couple tablespoons of avocado oil, some salt and sumac. It was pretty good, but it was too big. This time I did clean my plate and I was stuffed, giving me a dilemma. I am supposed to work out every night, it’s late 8:30pm, and I’m over full. Stuffed. I was also pretty sore from my workout yesterday. My thighs and butt were the sorest. I wasn’t up to anything too bouncy, or sweaty.

I went with Slim In 6 Pack. It’s a 10 minutes ab workout. It was difficult, but I did it. My arms were on fire, partly because of yesterday’s workout (Slim In 6 is an all body workout) and I had to rest them for a few seconds, a couple times during the video.

I stuck to my goal so far. I have concerns about timing. Dinner is always late at my home which makes it more challenging to work out. Tomorrow, I’m going to work out then eat. I’m going to have the same salad again, with the leftover faro and halloumi. I’m planning on doing a more… sweaty workout tomorrow.

Lobster Shorts lifestyle

Does Anyone Remember Slim In 6

It’s hard. I find it super hard. Even the beginner start up work out. This is an older workout series from Beach Body. There were some trendy ones (like P90X, and Yoga Booty Ballet) I’ve had it so long it came on DVDs and I had to order it over the telephone. I never made it beyond the second workout, it’s so intensely hard.

This photo is of me after finishing the Start It Up workout.

Okay, this is more likely the expression I had. You can’t tell from this photo, but I was covered in sweat. This was the first time I’ve done this workout in over 10 years. I haven’t been working out at all. I haven’t been eating the way I want to. I don’t recognize my body anymore.

Numbers aren’t important, but I’m at least 20 pounds away from a healthy BMI (I’m 5’10 by the way) and I can tell. I don’t feel as strong and vibrant as I used to. I’m spending way too much time couch surfing and not enough time outside. Getting back on the exercise band wagon felt good. I am finding it a lot harder to lose weight now that I’m older (in my 40s).

My spouse and I have decided to work out every day. He prefers to workout in the morning and I prefer evenings. Either way, we have to get our butts in that gym, sometime before we go to bed. Every night. No days off. If we’re sore we’re still going to do something, stretching or yoga, but it has to be something. I know I’m going to hurt like crazy tomorrow, so stretching might be on for tomorrow. Then I’ll tackle that DVD series again.

Lobster Shorts lifestyle

Am I Too Superstitious?

Recently, I decluttered my medicine cabinet. It was messy enough that when I pulled something out, a bunch of other things would fall out. I decluttered it and the tidal wave of bottles. Recently, I’ve had a glass bottle of flower essence (the fact that I own flower essences, should already tell you that yes, I am superstitious) fall out every morning. And every morning it lands on a hard rock counter top and doesn’t shatter. Every morning I keep putting the bottle back in the cabinet. It doesn’t fall out at night, when I get my toothpaste or moisturizer out, like I do in the morning,

This morning the same thing happened. The glass bottle landed on the hard counter and didn’t shatter, I picked up the bottle to put it back, like I have every morning and then I thought to myself “Is this a sign? Should I start using this again? Is this the universe talking to me?”. I know they give me a headache, for the first few days (apparently this is a common side effect and goes away in a couple days).

I went with the universe. One drop under the tongue and I’ve got a pretty decent headache that I had about an hour after I took it. I’ve had that headache all day. Funny thing is, I can’t remember what that flower essence is for! But when the universe speaks… I’m going to try to listen.